Trump Signs Directive That Could Deploy US Military in Mexico: Report

President Donald Trump ordered the United States military to target drug cartels and Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) on Friday, prompting concerns over diplomacy and presidential overreach, the New York Times reported.

Citing sources close to the matter, the Times reported that Trump signed an order directing the Pentagon to begin using military force against overseas targets. It’s not clear if the order includes language about obtaining Congress’ consent.

The Department of Defense declined to comment to Newsweek, deferring to the White House. A White House spokesperson said Trump remains committed to “protecting the homeland”.

Newsweek reached out to the Mexican embassy in the U.S. for comment via email Friday afternoon.

Why It Matters

The Trump administration declared multiple cartels and criminal gangs as FTOs earlier this year, saying the designation was necessary to counter their activities in the U.S., including fentanyl trafficking.

Using the military to target the groups would mark a significant escalation in enforcement—one that could significantly impact relations with two countries: Mexico and Venezuela.

What To Know

The order signed by Trump reportedly provides an official basis for direct military operations at sea and on foreign soil against cartels, which would likely mean in the Gulf of Mexico and potentially within Mexico itself.

Making such moves without the approval of Congress opens up legal questions about whether the military could be seen as murdering suspected cartel members, rather than acting in the defense of the U.S., the Times noted.

“Previous efforts to escalate the war on drugs through partnered operations in Colombia and Mexico failed to eliminate drug trafficking organizations or stem the flow of illicit drugs into the United States,” Brandan Buck, Cato Institute foreign policy research fellow, told Newsweek. “Unilateral action would assuredly fail to stem the flow of drugs into the United States while causing significant diplomatic fallout.”

The justification for the shift would likely be ongoing efforts to cut off fentanyl smuggling, which continues to impact American communities, with the synthetic opioid linked to thousands of deaths.

When Secretary of State Marco Rubio first declared eight groups as terrorist organizations in February, he opened up the possibility of military action against the MS-13 and Tren de Aragua gangs, as well as dominant cartels including Sinaloa and Jalisco, for their roles in fentanyl trafficking, murders and other violent crimes across the U.S.

At the time, experts told Newsweek that the designation could prompt dangerous blowback from the cartels, putting the lives of Americans living and working in Mexico and Venezuela at risk.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also criticized the FTO designation, saying it could infringe on Mexican sovereignty. Trump’s reported directive on Friday now opens the door to the possibility of American troops crossing the border into her country.

Trump’s latest order comes after the administration designated the Venezuelan-based Cartel de los Soles as an FTO late last month, alleging that it’s led by the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro.

What People Are Saying

Henry Ziemer, associate fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Newsweek: “Certainly the most extreme possibility would be that the United States could use this directive to target members of the Venezuelan government and military up to and including President Nicolas Maduro, now linked to the “Cartel de los Soles” now designated by the Treasury as a global terrorist entity.

“For the time being, I do not believe this is a likely outcome given the Trump administration’s aversion to entanglement in major overseas military operations. Nevertheless, these reports are undoubtedly causing sleepless nights for the regime.”

Buck told Newsweek: “This move, if true, will likely reignite debates on Capitol Hill about the use of military force as it bypasses Congress’s prerogative to declare war.”

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement to Newsweek: “President Trump’s top priority is protecting the homeland, which is why he took the bold step to designate several cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations.”

What’s Next

As of Friday afternoon, the Trump administration has not made an official announcement regarding the directive, making it unclear if Congress would be consulted on the matter.